Miller-Valentine
Construction has been
bringing customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; visions
to life for over 50 years. We
provide a single point of
contact to expertly guide you
through the building process,
from concept to occupancy
and beyond.

Red Feather, Grgich Hills Estate
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, B.R. Cohn
The Capital Grille, Robert Mondavi
Selections of high-end wines are poured in the
special tasting room for one hour only before
each grand tasting.

Bid on a phenomenal catalog of rare wines,
dining opportunities, trips, and much more.
Then enjoy a gourmet meal with carefully
selected wine pairings presented by
winemakers from around the world.
Hilton Netherland Plaza, Hall of Mirrors
Saturday, March 10, 2018
9:30 a.m.
Wine Reception & Silent Auction
11 a.m. Live Auction followed
by a Winery Luncheon
Tickets: $135 per person

Advance tickets for all events can be
purchased online at winefestival.com
or by calling 513-723-WINE (9463).

Visit cincinnatimagazine.com/cmevents for tickets

C I N C I N N AT I I N T E R N AT I O N A L W I N E F E S T I VA L

HONORARY CHAIR

Darioush Khaledi
very impressed with the wine and the place. Napa was
closer to our home in L.A., so I bought land there.

It takes a long time to establish a vineyard.
How did you start? In the beginning, we only made
one wine, cabernet sauvignon. We’ve added wines over
the years and now make 11 diﬀerent kinds.

Vintners are constantly trying new things.
What innovations are going on at Darioush?
We are experimenting with concrete vats rather than
stainless steel. It will take at least three years before we
know what the results are.

A great company is more than the boom line.
What is your business philosophy? A successful
business depends on successful employees. My job is
recruiting and retaining people. The best thing an owner
can do is to provide a great environment and then stay
away to let people do their jobs. Happy people produce
beer products.
his year’s honorary chair, Darioush Khaledi,
immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1979,
just before the Iranian Revolution. Despite
leaving everything behind, he and his brother
built K.V. Mart, a successful, California-based grocery
chain. In 1997, he took another leap of faith when he and
wife, Shahpar, founded Darioush, whose reputation for
producing ﬁne wines has grown with every harvest.

The Darioush complex in Napa, with its ornate, columned portico, looks more like an
ancient palace than a winery. What was your
inspiration? Persepolis, about 25 miles from where I
grew up in Shiraz, Iran, but the idea developed over time.
The architect, who also designed our dream home, had
a book of mosques and the ruins at Persepolis that he
showed us. It is our history and wine has been made in
Iran for 7,000 years.

Your father made wine for the family when
you were growing up. You developed a taste
early on, but when did you decide you wanted
to be a serious winemaker? My initial connection

As honorary chair of the festival this year, do
you have advice for a ﬁrst-timer who doesn’t
know much about wine? I would say to start a

to wine and wineries was collecting wine, especially Bordeaux. I went to winery dinners and made friends there. I
liked the atmosphere and began to dream about owning
my own winery. I started looking for property in France,
but my wife Shahpar and I came to Napa for the ﬁrst
time 27 years ago to celebrate our anniversary. We were

conversation with the people pouring the wines. They will
ask questions that can help you determine what you like.
It really depends on how casual or serious you are about
learning. There’s also a lot of online education. For the
person who knows nothing, you can pick up the basics
by reading Wine for Dummies. I’m not kidding.

W I N E F E S T I VA L C O M

ELEGANT
NEW LOOK
SAME GREAT
WINE

100+ YEAR OLD VINES
TIME BUILDS CHARACTER
clinecellars.com

WHO BENEFITS

he Cincinnati International Wine Festival is a charitable, nonproďŹ t organization founded to raise funds for local charities
supporting the arts, education, and health and human services, while promoting the wine industry. Through these events and
your participation, the wine festival has granted more than $5.3 million to the Cincinnati community. To learn more about how
your donation to the wine festival directly impacts these organizations, read their stories at winefestival.com/our-charities.
THANK YOU for giving back!

THE

C A RN E G IE
G A L L E RY E D U C A T I ON T H E A T RE

W I N E F E S T I VA L C O M

S PEC I AL ADVERTIS IN G S ECTION

SYM P HO NY O RCH E ST RA

Cincinnati Symphony Club
Established in 1923

C I N C I N N AT I I N T E R N AT I O N A L W I N E F E S T I VA L

THE COMPETITION

W I N E F E S T I VA L C O M

very year, all participating wineries are oﬀered the opportunity to compete against their peers in the intense Cincinnati International Wine Festival competition, likened to the
Olympics of the wine industry.
Wineries from across the world are judged for outstanding quality
in hopes of receiving industry recognition in the form of gold, silver,
and bronze medals.
Held just weeks before the wine festival weekend, more than
400 wines were swirled, sniﬀed, sipped, and evaluated by the keen
palates of esteemed judges, including wine educators, culinary professionals, restaurateurs, wine retailers, certiﬁed sommeliers, wine
salespeople, and industry advocates. Competition judges are professionally trained and commied to the integrity of the wine industry.
This competition truly recognizes the best of the best, who are then
acknowledged at the wine festival.
Each wine is tasted using a modiﬁed blind format, which means
that the type of grape and where it’s grown is revealed, but not the
winery, wine name, or vintage. The judges use a 20-point grading
scale to rate each wine on ﬁve major categories: appearance, aroma
and bouquet, taste and texture, ﬁnish and aertaste, and overall impression.
The behind-the-scenes staﬀ works diligently to ensure the wines
are presented to the judges in the most professional manner. Riedel
glassware is washed and hand-polished aer each use. If any judge
deems that a wine has “oﬀ ” aromas, another bole is opened without
question. Scoring sheets are then collected, tabulated, and doublechecked by an independent third party. Results are then sealed and
returned to the wine festival, and the medals are awarded. These
rules are established to ensure absolute credible results, and the
wine festival board and staﬀ are commied to enforcing the rules
to maintain the highest professional standards for the competition.
The Cincinnati International Wine Festival competition is nationally recognized and considered one of the premier wine events in
the country.

SPECIAL TASTING ROOM

These high-end selections are featured for sampling in the Special Tasting Room,
open one hour only prior to each Grand Tasting for an additional admission. Cheers!
2014 Darioush Darius II
Napa Valley California

e sure to take photos of the wines you loved best or circle them in the tasting guide because you’ll want to purchase
them soon to enjoy again.
You are able to purchase the festival wines at any of our merchant partners or your neighborhood Kroger store.
If the wine you are looking for is not in stock, don’t worry, just ask! Wine merchants have the ability to order the
wine you are looking for, and have it to you quickly.
Please support our local wine merchants. They are here to help make purchasing and enjoying wine easy and fun!

e congratulate our medal winners who earned their awards in direct, blind comparison with wines of the same
variety or region. The Cincinnati International Wine Festival encourages you to select from our many oﬀerings
and judge each wine for yourself.
2013 Chateau Kamnik 10 Barrels Syrah